PAL Blog
A Parent’s Story
Articles by Parents Like You
One Day at a Time
My family photos on social media are like most everyone else’s. You know the kind with the perfect family, great setting and well dressed. I’ve been married for 42 years to my amazing wife, and we have two children, two grandchildren and another on the way....
No Longer Letting the Chaos be in Control
a I’m a PAL mom. I am married and have two children – a son and a daughter. My son was always on the go 24/7. He was never a sit-around-the-house child. He loved sports - at some point, he played just about every sport. From an early age, he was smart. He excelled...
Intentional about taking care of myself
My oldest child was a great kid and a model teenager. He was smart, kind, responsible, polite and hard-working. I regularly received compliments about what a fine young man he was. I was so proud of him and considered him a product of good Christian parenting and...
The View from Recovery
Articles by People in Recovery
Spending Christmas all alone
Almost nine years ago during this holiday season my journey of recovery began in earnest. There were a lot of stops and starts along the way (several pitfalls that I fell into), but 2014 saw me in the most physically and mentally broken I’d ever been. Liver...
This is only temporary…
I’ve been exhausted lately. Over the years I had forgotten how tough it can be to get acclimated to a newborn’s sleep schedule – those early morning hours where you just drift off in peaceful slumber only to be jolted awake moments later by a seemingly endlessly...
The story can have a happy ending
I’m currently writing this post from the second floor of Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale, Arizona – the postpartum maternity ward to be exact. We welcomed our son Kaehler into the world. Needless to say, we’re overjoyed to finally have him here with...
From Counselors
Articles by PAL and Partner Counselors
Am I being Manipulated?
Herein lies an irony: the person who is trying to manipulate you views you as having greater strength or power than he or she does. — George H. Green and Carolyn Cotter, Stop Being Manipulated George Green and Carolyn Cotter...
Turning the spotlight on ourselves
I read in a book by Earnie Larsen* that there is scant difference between an abstaining chemically dependent person and a co-dependent person. Both have living problems, intimacy problems and issues with self-esteem. All these...
Am I a good role model for my adult children?
At a recent PAL meeting a distressed mother said, “I’ve cut financial strings, my son no longer lives with me and I’m limiting how many phone calls I take because he only calls when he wants money or is in a crisis, so I guess there is nothing else I can do?” This...
